Shank coil cover



March 7, 1950 E v, BAlLEY 2,499,449

SHANK COIL COVER Filed Dec. 5, 1946 13 Fig 1f i3@ ll In Ven or:

Edt/and Vaz'ley BWM Patented Mar. 7, 1950 "f TES GFF-'ICE 3' Claims. CL97-179) 1,"1 This invention relates toa.. protecting device for fruit trees, as applied over generally exposed springcoils, which are apt t injure the treeswhen the cultivator is operated'incf'ruitvv orchards; -particularly amongst-lemonorange Aor othercitrus fruit trees.

The coil shanks on the cultivators when bare are very injurious to the trees as the limbs hang very low so that the fruit catches on the spring coils and shanks of the cultivator shovels and bills and is torn oli.

The object of this invention is now to provide a cowl or cover over the spring coils, Shanks and bolts, so that there are no parts to entangle with the fruit, which may now slide over the smooth cover surface without being injured or damaged in any manner. Further objects will be clear from the subjoined description with the aid of the attached drawing.

In the drawing one embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the device taken on a vertical plane along a line I-I of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fractional, sectional View taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a fractional, bottom plan View as seen from line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Reference numeral I0 denotes a channel beam, on the cultivator on the top of which is secured by one or more U-bolts Il, the spring shank I2 terminating with a cultivator blade or bill I3, pointing downwardly and to the rear in the usual manner. Midway between the ends, the shank has one or more upturned coils I4, and it is mainly these coils that cause obstruction and are intended to be concealed and covered by the hood or cowl I5.

The same is preferably made of sheet metal about 11s inch thick; 4 inches wide in rear, 2 inches wide in front and 8 inches high over the coils at I6, where it is bent up to form an arch-like rear portion, gradually rising from the rectangular front portion at I'I, which is about 2 inches high above the top face of the channel beam I0. The left wall I8 of the hood or cowl I5, is perfectly flat with its bottom edge at I9 dropped down below the top face of the channel beam I0, while the right wall has a straight front portion at 20 with an outward bend at 2|, and a straight rear portion at 22, under the dome IB. This for the purpose to cover a spring shank with a, great number of coils I4.

The roof or top 25 is curved upwardly to the profile: of v'said'. Aplates* andj 'hase a Varying width correspondirligv toi-the space'between-them, thatiis 2 inchesf'in front, whereit'ffis,.foldedstraightidown, forming the. frontswalliZB, `Sand. arched over the minating at the rear with a straight edge 2l to provide a rear window opening 28 therebelow. Near this edge is provided a bolt 29 from which is suspended within the cowl, on a helical spring 30, a hook 3| intended to engage beneath the shank I2, which extends rearwardly thru the opening 28. Thus the rear end of the hood or cowl I5 is held down in position. The opening 28 is evidently needed to give access to the hook for applying it under the flat spring shank I2.

The bottom edge of the front wall 26 is provided with a holding down iiap 35, hinged thereto as at 33. Beneath the channel beam I0 is carried a at plate 32, thru which and also thru the front end of shank I2, runs a bolt 34 for securing the iiap 35 together with the front wall 26 in position, see Figure 1. Similarly the U-belt I I holds the shank I2 and plate 32 together on the channel beam I0.

It will now be evident that by covering over the obstructing coils and all bolts and projecting portions with the hood or cowl I5, no trees or their fruit in an orchard can be injured when the plowing or cultivating of the ground is performed with the cultivator. All corners or edges of the hood are therefore also well rounded.

Whenever the cultivator tool or spring-shank need attention or replacement, the hood may be raised into the dot and dash position at I5a, after disengaging the hook 3l from the shank I2.

During transportation of the cultivator from one orchard to another, the spring shank may be turned up or reversed by removing the nut on bolt 34 and loosening the U-bolt II and then disengaging the shank from II and slipping it out of the U-bolt. The shank I2 may then be inverted with the bill or blade I3 pointing up instead of down, thus avoiding catching and dragging trash on the ground. After reversing the position of the plow shank and bill and re-securing the shank, the hood may again be closed down as before.

It is to be understood that the invention as herein disclosed may be varied from the details described and shown without departure from the spirit of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a cultivator, a plow beam, a long spring shank disposed at one end across the beam and having its other end down-turned and supporting an earth working blade, the shank having an upstanding spring coil formed therein, means securing the shank to said beam, a long hood pivotally supported at one end adjacent to the said one end of the shank for vertical swinging movement, the hood having a. lowered position in which it houses said spring coil, and a detachable spring hold-down connection between the other end of the hood and the shank.

2. A construction of the character described in claim 1 wherein said hood has opposite side walls which rest upon the top of said plow beam when the hood is in the said lowered position.

3. In a cultivator construction including a, plow beam, a long spring shank disposed at one end thereacross and having its other end downturned and supporting an earth working blade, the shank having an upstanding spring coil therein and means securing the said end of the shank to the beam, a detachable guard for the shank and the spring coil, comprising a relatively long hood having end and side walls, a holding flap hingedly secured to the bottom edge of one end wall, said holding ap being secured to the under side of the plow beam by the said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 893,767 Volkrnor July 2l, 1908 1,945,514 Bowman et a1 Feb. 6, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 459,065 Germany Apr. 27, 1928 681,661 France Feb. 3, 1930 

